Return To London Town Festival 2023

Return To London Town Festival 2023

IMDL are incredibly pleased to announce London’s 25th annual festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance – Return to London Town 2023!

From Friday 27th to Monday 30th October 2023 there will be concerts, album launches, workshops, céilís, sessions and more, for all the family. Events will be held at venues in and around Cricklewood and there are special weekend tickets available.

Festival Director Karen Ryan says:

“This year we’ve brought together a fantastic programme of wonderful traditional Irish culture – with 22 artists visiting from across 14 counties in Ireland as well as great London-based musicians. The line-up of concerts and album launches holds a cornucopia of talented artists, many of whom will also be teaching workshops and leading sessions over the weekend. We are looking forward to welcoming children to our Céilí Dancing and Singing workshops. We are also very excited about a new addition to the programme – our Traditional Irish Music Quiz with Mick Mulvey. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to.”

All Festival tickets (including the excellent value £40 weekend ticket) are now available to purchase via links on www.irishmusicninlondon.org and www.returntolondontown.org

For more information, including artist bios and photos, or to arrange interviews, please contact Karen Ryan directly on irishmusicinlondon@gmail.com

Programme Overview

Friday 27th October
Evening Concert: Noel Hill and Brian McGrath / The London Lasses / The Trad Gathering

Saturday 28th October
Instrumental Workshops
Children’s Céilí Dancing Workshop
Afternoon Concert:  Mairéad and Deirdre Hurley with John Blake / Pádraic Keane, Páraic MacDonnchadha and MacDara Ó Faoiláin / Tara Viscardi and Robert Harvey
Set Dancing Céilí: The Parish Céilí Band with host: Tom Kelleher
Sessions
Evening Concert: John Carty, Michael McGoldrick, Matt Griffin, Michael McCague / Saileóg Ní Cheannabháin and Pádraic Keane / Harry Bradley, James Carty and Libby McCrohan

Sunday 29th October
Instrumental Workshops
Children’s Singing Workshop
Set Dancing Céilí: The Parish Céilí Band with host Tom Kelleher
Sessions
Quiz: Mick Mulvey
Album Launch Event: Sorcha Costello and John Blake / Pádraic Keane, Páraic MacDonnchadha and MacDara Ó Faoiláin / Seán Gavin
Cèilí For All with McCool Trad, calling by William Macken

Monday 30th October
Afternoon Concert: Mary MacNamara, Sorcha Costello and Pete Quinn / Seán Gavin, Mick O’Connor and Peter McAlinden / London Irish Pensioner’s Choir

Huge thanks go to the Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Irish Youth Foundation, Flannery Plant HIre, Ashford Place, Ardmore, The Irish World and The Irish Post, without whose support we couldn’t even dream of hosting this year’s Festival.